Professional Communications Assignments

Unlike news stories, feature stories are "people-oriented". They cover topics such as social trends, health and wellness, fashion, food, "slice of life" views on situations, travel stories, personality profiles, and "behind the scenes" stories. They are more descriptive and lighthearted than news stories. Complete the attached Google Form creating a Feature story for a class newspaper.

There are several places in a newspaper where a writer's opinion is appropriate, most obviously the editorial where the editor displays his/her viewpoint on a topic. There are also opinion columns and editorial cartoons generally located opposite the editorial page where guest writers express their opinions. Sports sections have similar articles under a section labeled "Analysis" than contains interpretations of sporting events in addition to facts.
Your assignment is to decide on a current local or national issue (one which has different sides) and develop an article on the "Writing Opinions" Google Form below and also draw a related editorial cartoon and post a picture under the Editorial Cartoon Assignment -- These MUST BE APPROPRIATE (can be a news or sports topic)

There are several places in a newspaper where a writer's opinion is appropriate, most obviously the editorial where the editor displays his/her viewpoint on a topic. There are also opinion columns and editorial cartoons generally located opposite the editorial page where guest writers express their opinions. Sports sections have similar articles under a section labeled "Analysis" than contains interpretations of sporting events in addition to facts.
Your assignment is to decide on a current local or national issue (one which has different sides) and develop an article on the "Writing Opinions" Google Form in that assignment and draw a related editorial cartoon and post a picture here -- These should contain: 1) A Title 2) A Message 3) An Illustration 4) Your signature.....and they MUST BE APPROPRIATE (can be a news or sports topic) If you have never seen an editorial cartoon, you may want to research some examples.

We have completed all speeches in the Verbal Communication sector of the class and are moving to our final area, Written Communication. Though we will complete more assignments which require more actual writing, this assignment allows you to tell a story through photos! You will prepare a photo-essay or compilation of photos to tell a story....and you get to choose the subject matter! Examples of story ideas may be "My Junior Year", "The Life of My Dog Spot", "A Tribute to the Class of 2020", "A Salute to Mom for Mother's Day", "My Time in Quarantine" etc. This may be done as a Google Doc, Google Slides document, or, if you are really tech savvy, a video. Pictures may have captions, but must be limited to as few as words as possible....remember, the pictures should tell the story! (Think of it as a journal in pictures) Photo Essays should contain no less than 8 and no more than 15 photos.

You have been tasked with writing a News Story for our class newspaper. There are certain criteria for selecting a newsworthy story: timelines (events happening right now), Proximity (events/situations that occur near the reader), Uniqueness (unusual events or situations), Impact (news which affects a large number of readers), Prominence (about well-known people or groups), Suspense (events such as disasters where the outcome is not known), Conflict (people or groups opposing a situation or other people/groups), Emotions (love, hate, pity, fear, or jealousy), Progress (advances in science, medicine, or technology), or Importance (important to readers' lives, family, education, health, or well-being). Complete the following News Story Google Form with your idea for our class newspaper.

This will be our second and final round of debates. Your topics and positions are in the file below, instructions are the same as last week, use the "Debate Assignment - Round 2" Google Form below". Debates will be due Sunday and overall winners will be posted on Monday....good luck!

Review the Debate Notes/video and then take the quiz (Quiz will be posted Wednesday-Friday)

First, review Debate Notes before beginning assignment. Second, find your name, proposition (debate topic), and assigned side (affirmative- A or negative-N) in the Debate Tournament Round 1 file below. Then you will perform research supporting your side of the debate and complete the attached Google Form with your constructive (opening arguments supporting your side), two counterpoints you feel would likely be presented by the opposing side of the debate and a rebuttal for each (what you would say to argue against the other side's counterpoints). These are due by midnight FRIDAY so that I will have next weekend to grade and determine winners prior to the second round of debates next week. Good Luck!!

This week's assignment is to make your own TV Commercial!!! But first you have to have a product, which you will invent! In other words, you are to invent a product (something which does not exist, but it can be an improvement of something which does exist) and then create a short tv commercial selling this product to the general audience. Review the notes video I have created prior to beginning the assignment. Again this assignment has 3 parts: OUTLINE (different than typical format, will simply answer a series of questions which will aid in planning), Written Transcript (what you will say in your commercial), and the TV Commercial Video!

FINAL COPY - THIS IS JUST A WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT OF WHAT YOU WILL SAY IN YOUR TV COMMERCIAL...TYPE IN GOOGLE DOCS AND TURN IN TO GOOGLE CLASSROOM! (Instructions attached)

This week's assignment is to make your own TV Commercial!!! But first you have to have a product, which you will invent! In other words, you are to invent a product (something which does not exist, but it can be an improvement of something which does exist) and then create a short tv commercial selling this product to the general audience. Review the notes video I have created prior to beginning the assignment. Again this assignment has 3 parts: OUTLINE (different than typical format, will simply answer a series of questions which will aid in planning), Written Transcript (what you will say in your commercial), and the TV Commercial Video!

TV COMMERCIAL VIDEO SUBMITTED HERE....DO NOT Stress about time limits, just want to see the energy and persuasion needed to sell your product!

This week's assignment is to make your own TV Commercial!!! But first you have to have a product, which you will invent! In other words, you are to invent a product (something which does not exist, but it can be an improvement of something which does exist) and then create a short tv commercial selling this product to the general audience. Review the notes video I have created prior to beginning the assignment. Again this assignment has 3 parts: OUTLINE (different than typical format, will simply answer a series of questions which will aid in planning), Written Transcript (what you will say in your commercial), and the TV Commercial Video!

Outline: Simply answer questions on attached Google doc and submit, this should get the brain going and get you started!

Show us how to do or make something! There is no time limit but you will be graded on complexity so make sure it is a high school-level task. If you are unable to make a video due to technology restraints, please email me! See rubric for how this will be graded. ** MUST BE SCHOOL APPROPRIATE **

For Speech #2 you will demonstrate a skill, in other words you will teach me and the class how to do or make something. This assignment will consist of 3 parts: outline, final written copy, and a video of you performing the demonstration. See Demo Outline File below for outline instructions....Just pretend you are in a cooking show or a YouTube "How to" Video! (There is no speech time requirement, but you will be graded on complexity - make sure this is a skill that is valuable to high school students!)
***Final Copy should be complete sentences, a transcript of what you will say as you present the demonstration

For Speech #2 you will demonstrate a skill, in other words you will teach me and the class how to do or make something. This assignment will consist of 3 parts: outline, final written copy, and a video of you performing the demonstration. See Demo Outline File below for outline instructions....Just pretend you are in a cooking show or a YouTube "How to" Video! (There is no speech time requirement, but you will be graded on complexity - make sure this is a skill that is valuable to high school students!)

Celebrity & Me Speech Assignment - Read instructions carefully! You must create an outline and write out a final copy of speech. This may be hand written and turned in or typed and emailed to me at: [email protected]